PHILADELPHIA _ A SWAT team officer was fatally shot early Friday in the city's Frankford section as he was trying to arrest a man suspected of committing a murder in 2019.
Cpl. James O'Connor IV, 46, became the first officer killed in the line of duty in Philadelphia in five years. A 23-year veteran, he was a married father of two, authorities said. His father was a city police officer, and his son is an officer in the city's 9th District, which covers Fairmount and parts of Center City. His daughter serves in the Air Force, police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said.
"We just want everybody to know it's a very sad day, not just for officers here, but it's a very sad day for the family who is here and who is mourning and is still trying to stomach all this," Outlaw said outside Temple University Hospital.
O'Connor was shot in the shoulder above his bulletproof vest about 5:50 a.m. on the 1600 block of Bridge Street when he and other SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) officers entered the two-story white rowhouse and bullets blasted through a closed door on the second floor, Outlaw said.
Officers had been trying to serve an arrest warrant for Hassan Elliott, 21, who the District Attorney's Office said was wanted for a March 2019 robbery and murder in the area.
